In order to properly equip student journalists and position them for seamless integration into the newsroom after the classroom trainings, the Step-up for Women In Journalism Initiative, (SWIJ), in partnership with the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, University of Port, have trained Journalism students on digital skills, techniques for Investigative reporting, as well as news mapping and Pitching.
The training, which was supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ ) and funded by the Gates Foundation, took place at the faculty of Communication and Media studies,University of Port Harcourt.
The Dean of the Faculty, Professor Walter Ihejirika in his opening remarks, described the training as apt, noting that, the media industry is evolving daily hence; digital skills are very necessary to help professionals and student journalists advance with the growing trend.
He thanked the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Owunari Georgewill and the management and council of the institution for approving the collaborative endeavour with SWIJ to help students who are in the media and communication faculty to be empowered with relevant skills.
” This training is apt, so that after the classroom, the students can integrate very well into the newsroom and when we talk about the newsroom, we talk about all including the electronic, print and even the new media.
The university is an enterprenuerial University, this means we are not only interested in certificates, we are not also interested in giving the students the paper work,we are interested in ensuring that they convert the papers to tangible realities that will make them earn a living, feed themselves and family, and more importantly, help to develop our country, the dean highlighted.
Prof. Ihejirika thanked the organisers for choosing the University of Port Harcourt to implement the project and urged the selected students to make good use of the opportunity which he noted may open up more future opportunites for them in becoming core professional media personnel.
On her part, the Head of Department, Journalism and Media Studies, Prof. Christie Omego, lauded the initiative and charged the students to utilize the lessons learnt to improve their skills with a resonated passion for journalism, assuring that they will excel in the industry if the remain focused and steadfast.
Team leader of SWIJ, Ann Godwin, hinted that the training which is supported by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism under its report women newsroom engagement Champion building project is in line with their commitment to building next generation of journalists.
She stressed the need for future journalists to acquire necessary skills, especially digital skills considering the evolving nature of the media landscape to enable them to stay atop and have a successful career.
Mrs Godwin disclosed that Nigeria media industry is struggling to meet up with the growing demands in the industry because in the past, tech skills and values were not giving prime attention and stressed the need for professionals to scale up digital skills .
Resource persons at the workshop are, Paul Chimodo,who spoke on Embracing Digital Journalism:The future of News and Information , Mrs Ann Godwin, who handled Techniques on Investigative Journalism and Collaboration, while News Development, Mapping, Publishing and Pitching was handled by Udoma Mkpo.
The students at the end of the workshop shared values gained while expressing gratitude to SWIJ and the sponsors.
The delegation of SWIJ includes the Secretary Annie Dick, Dr Ijeoma Tubosia, Dr Ngozi Anosike , Dorris Morrison, Daba Benibo and Gift Inmo